Want your property taxes to rise to finance City Council campaigns?

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SEATTLE — The Seattle City Council on Monday will consider a proposal to ask voters to increase property taxes in order to publicly finance City Council campaigns, the Seattle Times reported Sunday.

The proposal, sponsored by City Council members Mike O’Brien, Nick Licata and Jean Gooden, would place on the November ballot a property-tax levy that would raise about $1.5 million a year, and cost the owner of a $400,000 home about $6 more a year, the Times said.

The goal is to reduce financial barriers for candidates to enter a race and to strengthen the role of small contributors, but critics contend public financing in other cities hasn’t lessened the power of incumbency, the Times noted.